1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to generally to an electronically controlled sample warper having a plurality of yarn introduction means for winding yarns on a warper drum to automatically exchange yarns and wind the yarns on a warper drum in accordance with a preset pattern data (yarn order), and more particularly to an electronically controlled sample warper which enables a combined use of a fixed creel and a rotary creel, a warping method, and a rotary creel suitable for use in the warper.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventionally used electronically controlled sample warper, there is known a structure disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 64-8736, as illustrated in FIGS. 34-38. This known electronically controlled sample warper W 20 has a hollow shaft 1 (FIG. 34). Driving and driven shafts 2, 3 project centrally from opposite ends of the hollow shaft 1. A small gear 5 fixed to a pulley 4 and a pulley 99 are loosely mounted on the driving shaft 2, while a small gear 7, to which a warn introduction means 6 is fixed, is loosely mounted on the driven shaft 3 at the distal end. While the illustrated example shows only one yarn introduction means 6, two or more yarn introduction means 6 must be disposed for a plural-winding system, later described.
The small gears 5, 7 are associated with each other through small gears 9, 10 disposed at opposite ends of an associating shaft 8 extending through the hollow shaft 1, which small gears 9, 10 are meshed with the corresponding small gears 5, 7. The hollow shaft 1 is cantilevered at the driving shaft 2, and a warper drum A is loosely mounted on the hollow shaft 1 on the driven shaft 3 side.
As illustrated in FIG. 35, the warper drum A is formed of drum frames 13, 14 having an outer periphery of like shape having alternately an arcuate portion 11 and a straight portion 12; a pair of rollers 15 disposed one on the arcuate portion 11 of each of the drum frames 13, 14; and horizontal beams 16 carrying the rollers around which conveyor belts 17 (FIG. 34) are wound. The conveyor belts 17 are moved along a plane formed by the horizontal beams 16.
The conveyer belts 17 are simultaneously driven to a common amount of fine movement by a drive member 21 threadedly engaged with interior screw shafts 20 of planetary gears 19 concurrently rotated by meshing with a sun gear 18 suitably driven from the exterior. The distal end of the yarn introduction means 6 is bent inwardly to provide a yarn introducing member 6xe2x80x2 which is disposed adjacent to the front end of the outer periphery of the warper drum A.
Referring again to FIG. 34, B designates a fixed creel for supporting a plurality of bobbins around which different kinds (different color or different twisting) of yarns 22 are wound; 24, a guide plate for guiding yarns 22 drawn out from the bobbins; 25, a tension regulator for regulating the tension of the yarns 22; 26, a dropper ring; 30, a guide rod for the yarns 22; and E, a yarn fastener having a permanent magnet mounted to a base Y for pressing and setting the yarns.
Further in FIG. 34, reference numeral 27 designates a yarn selection guide unit having a plurality of yarn selection guides 27a-27j (FIG. 38) for selecting and guiding the yarns 22 according to instructions from a program setting unit 78 (FIG. 37). 28 designates a slitted plate which generates pulses in response to the rotation of the pulley 4 to actuate a plurality of rotary solenoids 29 arranged corresponding to the yarn selection guides 27a-27j. The yarn selection guides 27a-27j are mounted to their respective associated rotary solenoids 29 such that they are pivotally moved to advance to an operative position (yarn exchange position) when the rotary solenoids 29 are turned on, and they are pivotally moved in the opposite direction to restore to a standby position (yarn accommodating position) when the rotary solenoids 29 are turned off.
Referring next to FIG. 36, reference numerals 33, 34 and 38 designate shedding bars for jointly forming a shed of the yarns 22, where the bars 33, 38 are upper shedding bars, and the remaining bar 34 is a lower shedding bar. 35 and 37 designate cut shedding bars for separating the shedding down yarns into lower-side yarns and upper-side yarns, where one of the bars 35 is a cut shedding up bar, and the other bar 37 is cut shedding down bar. It should be noted that in FIG. 37, the illustration of the upper shedding bar 38 is omitted.
Reference numeral 39 designates a yarn stopper mounted on the dram frame 13 for stopping a yarn immediately under the broken yarn being shedded (FIG. 35). A rewinder C is composed of a skeleton 40, a pair of rollers 41, 42, a zigzag-shaped comb 43, a roller 44 and a beam 45 for a woven fabric (FIGS. 35 and 36).
Referring next to FIG. 34, reference numeral 46 designates a main motor which may be implemented by an invertor motor for enabling, during operation of the warper, acceleration and deceleration, buffer start/stop, jogging operation and an increased winding speed.
Further in FIG. 34, reference numeral 47 designates a main speed change pulley; 58, a V belt wound on and between the main speed change pulley 47 and an auxiliary speed change pulley 48; 49, a counter pulley which is coaxial with the auxiliary speed change pulley 48; and 50, a brake actuating pinion for reciprocatingly moving a rack to bring the rack into and out of engagement with a brake hole (not shown) in a brake drum D, thus controlling the rotational speed of the warper drum A as desired. 57 designates a V belt between the pulleys 4 on the driving shaft 2; 51, a belt moving motor (AC servo motor); 52, a shift lever; 54 a sprocket-wheel; 55, a chain; 56, a chain wheel for driving the sun gear 18; 57, 58, both V belts; 59, a yarn introduction cover; and D, the brake drum.
Reference numerals 67a, 67b designate sensors for detecting the passing of the slit of the slitted plate 28.
The slitted plate 28 is set to rotate synchronously with the yarn introduction means 6, so that the rotation of the yarn introduction means 6 is also sensed by the sensors 67a, 67b by detecting the rotation of the slit of the slitted plate 28. These sensors 67a, 67b actually comprise three sensors which are arranged at an angular space of about 120 (only two of them are illustrated in the figure).
Referring next to FIG. 37, reference numeral 69 designates a movement/stopping change-over lever for the conveyor belt 17; 70, a locking lever for locking the warper drum A; 74, a shedding bar adjusting lever; 75, a shedding bar locking handle; 78, a program setting unit; 79, a controller; 80, a yarn tensioning unit located centrally on the straight part 12 of the warper drum A; and S, a stopper plate disposed on the base Y corresponding to the yarn selection guide unit 27.
The foregoing electronically controlled sample warper, which has been developed by the present applicant, is favorably accepted as being capable of automatic pattern warping through electronic control.
However, since the conventional electronically controlled sample warper as described above employs an ordinary general-purpose motor as a main motor, there are still several problems to solve. First, it is impossible to increase and/or decrease the rotating speed during operation. Miscatching and mischanging inevitably occur during exchange of yarns. Yarns are susceptible to breakage. In addition, the conventional electronically controlled sample warper is not capable of performing buffer start/stop, jogging operation and so on, so that there have been room for improvement in terms of operation efficiency.
In addition, with respect to a warp density setting method and a mechanism employed thereby, a moving speed of conveyor belts is determined by changing a gear ratio of a transmission connected to a main motor with a warp density setting dial, and the conveyor belts operate even during idling, so that yarns cannot be regularly wound on a warp drum, causing minute changes in tension and warping length during winding.
The present applicant has also developed and proposed electronically controlled sample warpers which employ an invertor motor and an AC servo motor in order to eliminate the inconveniences mentioned above (Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 64-10609 and 64-10610). In the respective proposed warpers, the respective electronically controlled sample warper is provided with a fixed creel for supporting a plurality of bobbins around which different kinds of yarns (yarns of different colors or differently twisted yarns).
The present applicant has also developed and proposed an electronically controlled sample warper which is capable of simultaneously warping a plurality of yarns (Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-57776). This electronically controlled sample warper eliminates the need for a yarn exchange process to suppress time loss for yarn exchange to zero. In addition, since a plurality of yarns can be simultaneously wound on a warper drum, a warping operation time can also be reduced.
In this electronically controlled sample warper capable of simultaneously warping a plurality of yarns, since a plurality of yarn introduction means are disposed, a conventional fixed creel cannot support it. For this reason, a rotary creel has been developed, together with the development of the electronically controlled sample warper capable of simultaneously warping a plurality of yarns, for simultaneously warping a plurality of yarns. The development of this rotary creel enables a plurality of yarns to be simultaneously warped, consequently realizing a reduction in a warping time.
The rotary creel is rotated in synchronism with the rotation of the plurality of yarn introduction means. A synchronous operation mechanism will be described below with reference to FIGS. 39-41. FIG. 39 is a diagram schematically showing how an encoder is mounted in the conventional electronically controlled sample warper, FIG. 40 is a schematic lateral cross-sectional view of the conventional rotary creel, and FIG. 41 is a block diagram illustrating the operation principles of the conventional rotary creel.
Referring first to FIG. 39, a pulley 98 is associated with the pulley 99 illustrated in FIG. 34 by a timing belt. An encoder 97 is mounted on an extension of a shaft on which the pulley 98 is fixed.
Referring next to FIG. 40, a rotary creel F supports two or more bobbins 126 around which the same kinds of yarns (yarns of the same color or identically twisted yarns) and/or different kinds of yarns (yarns of different colors or differently twisted yarns) are wound, respectively. Reference numeral 300 designates an encoder for detecting the rotation of the rotary creel F; 301, a motor with a reducer; 302, a timing pulley fixed to an output shaft 308 of the reducer; and 303, a timing pulley fixed to a rotary shaft 307 and operatively connected with a timing belt 309. Reference numeral 304 designates a tension regulator for regulating the tension of the yarns 22; and 310, a limit switch for sensing any possible yarn breakage.
This rotary creel F can operate in synchronism with yarn introduction members 6xe2x80x2 while constantly comparing rotational signals between the above-mentioned encoder 97 and the encoder 300 on the rotary creel F. The position of the bobbins 126 to be supported on the rotary creel F must be relatively coincident with the yarn introduction members 6xe2x80x2.
Referring next to FIG. 41, an operating switch assembly 311 is composed of four switches for warping on, warping off, fine movement in forward rotation, and fine movement in reverse rotation, respectively. Of signals from such four switch, switching signals for warping on and warping off are transmitted to the electronically controlled sample warper W, while switch signals for fine movement in forward rotation and fine movement in reverse rotation are transmitted to a synchronous operation control unit 312 to locate the yarn introduction members 6xe2x80x2 and the bobbins 126, on which the yarns 22 to be caught by the yarn introduction members 6xe2x80x2 are wound, in register with one another.
In the synchronous operation control unit 112, a RUN signal (warping-on signal) and a JOG signal (jogging operation signal), which are transmitted from the electronically controlled sample warper W, and the above-mentioned fine-movement-in-forward-rotation signal and fine-movement-in-reverse-rotation signal are converted into ENB signals (synchronous operation enable signal) to be transmitted to a synchronous operation card 314. Further, FWD (forward rotation), REV (reverse rotation), JOG (jogging operation) signals and so on are transmitted to an invertor 313.
The synchronous operation card 314 is also connected to an encoder 97 mounted in the electronically controlled sample warper W and to the encoder 300 mounted in the rotary creel F. During a warping-on and jogging operation, the rotational angles of the two encoders 97, 300 are constantly compared, and signals are transferred between the synchronous operation card 314 and the invertor 313 so as to keep constant the positional relation between the yarn introduction member 6xe2x80x2 and the bobbins 126 around which the yarns 22 to be caught by the yarn introduction members 6xe2x80x2 are wound.
The invertor 313 supplies a rotational signal to the motor 301 with a reducer, located in the rotary creel F. The invertor 313 and the synchronous operation card 314 may be implemented by those available on the market.
The present applicant has also proposed an electronically controlled sample warper capable of aligned winding, wherein after a first column of yarns has been wound on a warper drum, the next column of yarns is wound such that the beginning of the yarns of the next column are positioned in front of the yarns of the first column, thereby making it possible to achieve aligned winding warping in order from the lower yarns on the warper drum, and to facilitate winding of yarns to a weaving beam even if a warping length is longer (Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 7-133538). Likewise, this improved version of the electronically controlled sample warper has been highly favorably accepted.
Creels for use in electronically controlled sample warpers may be classified into two: a fixed creel and a rotary creel, as mentioned above.
The fixed creel has a plurality of bobbins around which the same kind and/or different kinds of yarns (mainly different kinds of yarns) are wound, and is capable of warping yarns one by one. Therefore, the fixed creel has an advantage of providing a warping operation for pattern warping. However, since yarns are wound one by one sequentially around a warping drum, the fixed creel has a disadvantage of taking a longer warping operation time. The rotary creel, on the other hand, has a plurality of bobbins around which the same kinds and/or different kinds of yarns are wound, and is usable in warping of extremely limited patterns such as plain warp (for example, only a red yarn), one-to-one (for example, repetitions of a red yarn and a white yarn, or a S-twisted yarn and a Z-twisted yarn), two-to-two (for example, repetitions of two red yarns and two white yarns, or two S-twisted yarns and two Z-twisted yarns), and so on. While this rotary creel has a disadvantage of inability to perform a warping operation for pattern warping other than limited pattern warping, it is has an advantage of largely reducing a warping time because of simultaneous windings of a plurality of yarns around a warper drum.
For example, when warping L (FIG. 32) of vertical yarns is performed for weaving a cross-striped fabric M, as illustrated in FIG. 31, it is advantageous, from a viewpoint of warping time, to perform plain warping by use of a rotary creel, because the pattern includes a considerable amount of plain portion. However, since the cross-striped fabric M includes stripe portions with yarns of different colors, the use of a rotary creel is impossible, so that a fixed creel must be inevitably used. When a fixed creel is used, yarns are wound one by one around a warper drum even for plain warp portions, a warping time is required for each yarn, so that correspondingly inefficient operation must be done as a warping operation without any alternative.
The present invention has been made in view of the problems inherent to the above-mentioned prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronically controlled sample warper which is capable of extremely efficiently performing a warping operation involving plain warping and pattern warping in a reduced warping time.
To solve the problem s mentioned above, the present invention provides an electronically controlled sample warper for automatically exchanging yarns and winding the yarns on a warper drum in accordance with a preset yarn order. The electronically controlled sample warper is characterized by comprising a plurality of yarn introduction means each rotatably mounted to a side surface of the warper drum for winding a yarn on the warper drum, a yarn introduction member arranged at a distal end of each of the yarn introduction means for holding a yarn, a plurality of yarn selection guides, arranged in one end portion of a base for supporting the warper drum in correspondence to the yarn introduction means, wherein each of the yarn selection guides is pivotally moved to protrude to a yarn exchange position when a yarn is exchanged and pivotally moved to retract to a standby position when a yarn is accommodated, and yarns are passed between the yarn introduction means and the yarn selection guides, a fixed creel installed corresponding to the plurality of yarn selection guides for supporting a plurality of bobbins around which different kinds of yarns are wound, and a rotary creel installed corresponding to the plurality of yarn selection guides for supporting a plurality of bobbins around which different kinds and/or the same kind of yarns are wound.
Both the yarns in the fixed creel and the yarns in the rotary creel are accommodated in corresponding yarn selection guides, so that the yarns in the fixed creel and the yarns in the rotary creel can be used in combination in accordance with preset pattern data to wind the yarns on the warper drum to perform pattern warping.
When a warping operation is started, it is determined whether the fixed creel or the rotary creel is used in accordance with preset pattern data, and the fixed creel or the rotary creel can be selectively used in alternation in accordance with the pattern data.
Preferably, a controller is newly provided with a creel selection control function which determines whether the rotary creel or the fixed creel is used, when warping conditions (inputting of a pattern, a warping width, the number of yarns for warping, a warping length) are inputted, so that yarns of both the rotary creel and the fixed creel can automatically be used in combination.
It is preferable to enable selection of accommodation and supply of yarns in the rotary creel by the yarn selection guides, in addition to enabling selection of accommodation and supply of yarns in the fixed creel by the yarn selection guides.
Of course, it is necessary to provide a number of the yarn selection guides equal to the sum of the number of yarns supported by the fixed creel (the number of bobbins) and the number of yarns supported by the rotary creel (the number of bobbins).
When the rotary creel is used, a plurality of yarns can be simultaneously warped, and when the rotary creel is used to simultaneously warp two or more yarns, the rotary creel is rotated in synchronism with the rotation of the plurality of yarn introduction means, and yarns can be passed by yarn selection guides corresponding to the yarn introduction members and the rotary creel.
When a plurality of yarns are simultaneously warped using the rotary creel, the rotary creel must be rotated in synchronism with the rotation of the yarn introduction means. Also, when the rotary creel is not rotated, yarns on the rotary creel can be exchanged one by one, as is the case of the fixed creel.
When the rotary creel is used to warp a single yarn, the rotary creel is used in an inoperative state when a single yarn introduction means on the rotary creel is only used for warping.
During a synchronous operation of the rotary creel and when the rotary creel is not rotated, yarns on the rotary creel can be orderly selected to the yarn introduction means, and also freely selected as long as the yarns do not get twisted (such as a rope).
Preferably, a yarn draw-back unit may be attached to a distal end of the rotary creel in order to reduce a time required to accommodate yarns on the rotary creel.
When the fixed creel is used to warp a single yarn, one of the plurality of yarn introduction members is used such that the yarn is passed by a yarn selection guide corresponding to preset pattern data.
Preferably, the yarn introduction member is movably mounted to the distal end of each of the yarn introduction means. In this case, when a yarn is passed from the yarn introduction member to a yarn selection guide, the yarn introduction member is moved in a direction in which the yarn is removed to remove the yarn from the yarn introduction member, and the removed yarn is held by the yarn selection guide. When a yarn is passed from a yarn selection guide to the yarn introduction member, the yarn introduction member is moved in a direction in which the yarn is held to hold the yarn held in the yarn selection guide in the yarn introduction member to exchange yarns.
The yarn introduction member may be rotatably mounted to the distal end of the yarn introduction means. In this case, the yarn introduction member is rotated in a direction in which a yarn is removed to remove the yarn from the yarn introduction member, and the yarn introduction member is rotated in a direction in which the yarn is held to hold the yarn in the yarn introduction member to exchange yarns.
The yarn introduction member may be movably mounted to the distal end of the yarn introduction means through a yarn introduction plate, and yarns can be exchanged using the yarn introduction member thus constructed.
The yarn introduction member may also be mounted to the distal end of the yarn introduction plate for protruding and retracting movements, where the yarn introduction member is accommodated into the yarn introduction plate to remove a yarn from the yarn introduction member, and the yarn introduction member is protruded from the yarn introduction plate to hold a yarn in the yarn introduction member to exchange yarns.
The yarn introduction member may be pivotably mounted to the distal end of the yarn introduction plate, wherein the yarn introduction member is pivotally moved in a direction in which the yarn introduction member is accommodated in the yarn introduction plate to remove a yarn from the yarn introduction member, and the yarn introduction member is pivotally moved in a direction in which the yarn introduction member protrudes from the yarn introduction plate to hold a yarn in the yarn introduction member to exchange yarns.
A yarn removing member, linearly movable in a vertical direction, may be arranged near each yarn selection guide for protruding and retracting movements. In this case, when a yarn is passed from the yarn introduction member to the yarn selection guide, the yarn removing member is protruded to remove the yarn from the yarn introduction member, and the removed yarn is held by the yarn selection guide. When a yarn is passed from the yarn selection guide to the yarn introduction member, the yarn removing member is retracted to hold the yarn held in the yarn selection guide in the yarn introduction means to exchange yarns.
Preferably, the yarn introduction member may be actuated by a plurality of yarn introduction member actuator units. The plurality of yarn introduction member actuator units may be arranged on an end surface of the warper drum or on a yarn introduction cover positioned on the end surface of the warper drum, and the plurality of yarn introduction member actuator units are operated to actuate the yarn introduction members in accordance with a preset yarn exchange order.
A plurality of yarn introduction member detecting sensors may be arranged on the end surface of the warper drum or on the yarn introduction cover positioned on the end surface of the warper drum. Desired warping can be automatically achieved when the yarn introduction member actuator units are operated in response to a yarn introduction means detecting signal from the sensors in accordance with the preset yarn exchange order.
A plurality of yarn introduction member detecting sensors may be arranged on the end surface of the warper drum or on the yarn introduction cover positioned on the end surface of the warper drum, such that the yarn introduction members are actuated in response to a yarn introduction means detecting signal from the sensors in accordance with the preset yarn exchange order. The warping can also be performed using this structure.
A warping method according to the present invention uses an electronically controlled sample warper comprising a fixed creel and a rotary creel, and is characterized by selecting the fixed creel or the rotary creel in accordance with preset pattern data, using the fixed creel to perform pattern warping with a single yarn for complicated pattern warping, and using the rotary creel to perform simultaneous plural yarn warping with two or more yarns for plain warping or simple pattern warping.
The above-mentioned rotary creel preferably comprises a base, a spindle shaft rotatably mounted to the base and protruding forward from the base, a plurality of bobbins mounted to a protruded portion of the spindle shaft through bobbin holders, and a guide plate mounted in a distal end portion of the spindle shaft through a guide arm so as to be positioned in front of the bobbins, wherein the spindle shaft is rotated so that a plurality of yarns wound on the plurality of bobbins can be rotated and simultaneously supplied through the guide plate.
More preferably, the rotary creel comprises a yarn return unit attached to a distal end portion of the spindle shaft through a front holder, wherein the guide arm is attached to the front holder, and the guide plate is positioned in front of the yarn return unit, so that a plurality of yarns wound on the plurality of bobbins can be rotated and simultaneously supplied through the yarn return unit and the guide plate.
Most preferably, the rotary creel comprises a yarn retainer attached to the front holder, and a guide plate and the yarn return unit are positioned in front of the yarn retainer, so that a plurality of yarns wound on the plurality of bobbins can be rotated and simultaneously supplied through the yarn retainer, the yarn return unit and the guide plate.
Preferably, the yarn return unit is capable of applying tensile force to the yarn in warping, putting back toward the rotary creel the yarn loosened when yarn exchanging and applying force to the yarn accommodated in the yarn selection guide so as to always keep the yarn in a state of tension.
Preferably, the yarn return unit may include a frame having a hollow interior, one or a plurality of yarn passing bars traversing the hollow interior in a front half portion of the frame, a swing arm having a base end mounted to a rear half portion of the frame, and always urged upwardly so as to be swingable in a vertical direction about the base, and one or a plurality of yarn pass rings formed on a free end portion of the swing arm.
More preferably, upward urging force applied to the yarn return unit is adjustable.